Welcome, prospective recruit! This is the official forums of the Elite Guard Barracks! If you are interested in joining our group, read on!

Table of Contents

What is the Elite Guard Barracks?

What are the requirements for joining?

Who are our enemies?

Who are our allies?

What are the rules?

What are my responsibilities as a Barracks member?

Who are the big players around here?

How do I become an officer?

Other Information

1. What is the Elite Guard Barracks?

The EGB is a club on the web's oldest and largest flash portal, Newgrounds. This club is made for members of Elite Guard rank to have a place to come together and discuss ways of protecting the Portal. It is our goal to make Newgrounds the best place it can be. We do this by patrolling the Flash Portal, reporting stolen and malicious flash submissions, and making sure the site administrators are aware when something rule-breaking (and potentially illegal) slips through the judgment process through illicit means.

2. What are the requirements for joining?

The current admission qualification is to be of Private rank or higher (2500+ B/P Points). If you don't know how to B/P, check out the advanced Barracks FAQ...and the Newgrounds FAQ, of course.

The former qualification was 1500+ B/P, but with the re-organization of the blam/protect rankings that came with the Newgrounds redesign of July 2007, the rank of Private has been moved up significantly.

Members with 1500-2499 B/P who were in the EGB BEFORE the redesign were grandfathered and allowed to continue to serve with the Barracks; however, all new members must be of Private rank or higher.

You must have a Bronze Whistle or higher; NO Garbage Whistles. If someone truly wishes to become a Barracks member and has a Garbage Whistle, the Barracks has members that are more than willing to assist them with repairing their whistle. Many people are available to show prospective members the ropes of identifying abusive reviews and how to find such reviews. Recruits who have a Normal whistle can also be tutored by Barracks members until they upgrade, at which point they are eligible for the recruitment process.

We also expect a good quality of posting in the Barracks. That means that you should not have constant one-line posts and be able to type intelligently (ie, not liek ur in an im box kthxbye).

When a user that fulfills the basic requirements requests to join the Barracks, they are told what the Barracks stands for and what our code of conduct is. If they agree to both, they are entered into the recruitment process. The Barracks members will discuss the merits and drawbacks of the potential recruit, as well as vote on whether they accept or reject the recruit. Once the votes are tallied, the Chief Barracks Officer makes a final judgment based on the club's input.

3. Who are our enemies?

I'm sure some of you have come here because you're angry at a certain spam group or flash submitter. You want to have an organization working together to blam the crap out them, right?

WRONG.

The Elite Guard Barracks does not have any argument with any flash group, period. We do not tell anyone how to vote; nor do we organize to mass-vote on any submission.

We encourage all members to vote on flashes on an individual basis. Do not vote based on the author or authors submitting it, but on the specific flash in question's quality.

Anyone incapable of maintaining objectivity in terms of authors or flash groups should reconsider their affiliation with the Elite Guard Barracks; we do NOT tolerate talk of mass-voting or discrimination against a flash group.

What to do if you see a non-rulebreaking flash you disapprove of:

Vote zero or one on it.

If you are unsure if the flash is rulebreaking, feel free to ask the Barracks in a non-judgmental way. For example: "Hello sirs, this flash looks suspicious to me, but I'm not sure if it's rulebreaking. What do you think?"

Let it be if it passes. As much as you dislike it, if it doesn't break any rules, there is nothing you can do about it.

What NOT to do if you see a flash you disapprove of:

Say things like "OMG GUYZ LOOK AT THIS CRAPPY FLASH!!!"

Say things like "BLAM THIS PIECE OF CRAP!"

Blow the whistle on a flash because you hate it

Leave abusive reviews for flash you hate

Not only do these actions go against our moral code, but they are against the rules of Newgrounds. Such actions will not only potentially give you a ban, but they can also threaten to get the Barracks locked by the moderators. Therefore, such actions are not allowed at all and have ZERO TOLERANCE.

4. Who are our allies?

We do not stand alone.

The Newgrounds Police Headquarters is a club similar to the Barracks, serving as a gathering place for members between Security Guard and Police Captain rank. They share our goals and have been erstwhile allies from the start. Many Barracks members are NGPD graduates, as well.

If a Newgrounder asks to join the Barracks but does not have sufficient rank, consider directing them to the NGPD (if the NG'er in question is of appropriate rank and courtesy).

If you have a stolen flash (that is still under judgement) that you wish to report, feel free to post a link to the stolen flash AND its original URL in the NGPD along with the Barracks.

5. What are the rules?

First off, see No. 3 above for rules on discussing under-judgment flashes and our prohibitions against committing and discussing mass voting.

You must show common courtesy to anyone posting in the Barracks. Even if the user is clueless or a noob, do not flame them, and instead be helpful. Kindly link them to the Newgrounds FAQ and answer any questions they might have in regards to the Barracks (including posting a link to this FAQ).

If they're a spammer/flamer, IGNORE THEM. If they continue to persist in spamming the EGB, one of the senior members will contact a moderator.

You must not engage in any ban-worthy behavior on the Newgrounds BBS, including spamming in other clubs.

If you're going to post a link to an under-judgment flash you believe to be stolen, you MUST include a link to the original URL on the flash in question. If you believe it is stolen but do not have a link, you are allowed investigate it with other members, but should treat the flash as non-rulebreaking until evidence is found. If there is any doubt if the Flash is stolen, do not flag it. Never flag any Flash without concrete proof.

You must not attack any other website, ESPECIALLY those of flash groups.

The former custom in the Barracks was to speak as if you were in the military and always address higher-ranked members as "sir." While this is no longer the case, you must still show proper respect to older and more experienced members of the Barracks. We do know what we're talking about, after all.

If you are experiencing a dispute with another Barracks member that cannot easily be resolved, it should be taken to the Barracks Court-Martial and handled in the fair and proper manner.

You must not make abusive reviews on flashes. If this becomes a problem, your membership in the Barracks may be reconsidered. If you unintentionally making abusive reviews, there are EGB members who can help you figure out why.

You must not submit any rule-breaking flashes. While we have no rules against the quality of your flash and just having fun, it should never result in a Flash that breaks rules or is stolen. The Barracks will not hesitate to flag a rulebreaking Flash by a fellow member or report it to the Newgrounds Admins.

6. What are my responsibilities as a Barracks member?

You will vote on every submission fairly, regardless of who or what group submitted it.

You will only whistle flashes you know for certain to be stolen, malicious, or hateful, giving any non-certain cases the benefit of the doubt unless evidence to the contrary emerges.

You will not make blatantly abusive reviews, nor will you mark non-abusive reviews as abusive.

You will not start a fight with any artist or flash group. On the same note, you will not flame users coming to the EGB asking for information, and will not respond to blatant spammers.

You will not break any other BBS rules. Frequent troublemakers may be removed from the Barracks.

You will treat other members with courtesy and respect. Hilarity is okay, of course, but actual disrespect is not. Disputes can be taken up in the appropriate section of this forum, but blatant asshaberdashery can result in summary removal from the Barracks.

You will not commit any offenses that put the existence of the Barracks in jeopardy.

Don't ask. Just like on Newgrounds, those that ask to be are almost never modded.

Always strive to be a great Barracks member and set the example for others.

Roles that need to be filled will be done so based on who is most qualified for the role.

Those that deserve an officer position will usually get one, even if it involves making up a new position.

9. Other information

You should consult The Newgrounds FAQ if you are unclear about any rules of the Newgrounds website and its BBS.

This FAQ has undergone multiple modifications. The first version was created by EGSC Phantom for our original forums on forumcityusa. It was then modified and updated by EGSC SlashFirestorm in Aug 2007 for the Invision Power Boards forums. The current version has been revised and updated by EGSC EagleRock in June 2010 for the eagleworld.net forums.